Mount Rokko
六甲山
A mountain 931 meters high behind Kobe. Take the cable car for night views from Rokko Garden Terrace, visit a dairy farm and music box museum, and cross the ridge to Arima Onsen.
Mount Rokko is a mountain range stretching about 30 km east to west across the north of Kobe, with its highest peak at 931 meters. In the Meiji era, British residents developed it as a summer resort, and it has Japan’s first golf course. Today the mountain is dotted with observation decks, farms, botanical gardens and resort facilities, and it serves as Kobe residents’ weekend backyard.
How to get there: From Hankyu Rokko Station or JR Rokkomichi Station, take a bus to the lower station of the Rokko Mountain Cable Car. Ride the cable car (about 10 minutes, a single-section classic car, about ¥600 one way) to the upper station. Beside it, Tenrandai is the observation deck overlooking Kobe city and Osaka Bay. Then transfer to the mountaintop bus to reach each sight.
Main attractions: Rokko Garden Terrace, a commercial area famous for night views, with restaurants, cafés and the glass observation deck Rokko Shidare, which is illuminated in winter; Rokko Farm, with sheep and dairy cows, where you can make cheese and butter, good for families; Rokko Alpine Botanical Garden, with alpine and subarctic plants, featuring hydrangeas in June and autumn foliage in October and November; Rokko Music Box Museum, in the former HALL OF HALLS, which displays antique self-playing instruments; Rokko Snow Park, with artificial skiing and sledding from December to March; and Tenrandai, which overlooks Kobe and Osaka.
From the summit you can also take the Rokko Arima Cable Car (about 12 minutes) down to Arima Onsen, forming a one-day loop of Kobe, Mount Rokko and Arima Onsen. On clear days you can also hike the mountain trails.
Tickets: The round-trip cable car costs about ¥1,100, and the mountaintop bus day pass costs about ¥800. Individual facilities charge separately. A “Rokko Arima Sightseeing Pass” bundle is also available. Allow half a day to a full day.
Notes: The mountaintop is 5 to 6°C cooler than the city, so bring a jacket. Bus services are limited and the last bus runs early, especially in winter, so check the timetable in advance. The best night views come after sunset, and the cable car operates until about 21:10. The Rokko Arima Cable Car has maintenance suspensions in winter.
Opening hours
Rokko Cable Car 07:10–21:10; facilities approx. 10:00–17:00
Nearby sights
- Arima Onsen
- Nada Sake Breweries (Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum)
- Kobe Oji Zoo
- Takarazuka Grand Theater
- Mount Maya Kikuseidai
- Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum
- Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art
- Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution